Derby Talk

Murphy's law was in full force at our derby this weekend. Timer was working when we set up Friday night, but the next morning nothing but eratic times. We replaced sensors, gate switches and came to the conclusion that our timer was the problem. We ended up using nothing but race replay and the human eye to judge the winners of each heat in double elimination. All in all we enjoyed the event, but hated the problems we had. New timer for next year.

At least you were able to adapt and overcome and provide a fun event for the participants.

This is the reason, why I want to get a 2nd timer and have one as backup just in case.

After the race, we sat around and discussed that it was actually a lot of fun racing the ole time way with trying to get 4 judges to agree on who won. We used the replay software, but my camera's shutter speed isn't adjustable and we didn't have very clear images of the finish. We had one parent taking pictures of the finish as well. We had a lot of races with all four cars crossing the finish line close together. Maybe we can come up with a way to do both next year, using the software and timer to check the judges decision.

We had a similar situation two years ago at the Council race. We eventually ran everyone on a rotating basis and used the points off the finish order from the gate. Good thing you all adapted and worked out something fun for the kids.